Costume History N52
This is a continuation of the masterful guide to Steph's costumes and clothes created by our wonderful founder. Alas, your current admin is but a fashion blind fellow, so they will have to be a pale imitation. But the N52 has provided some fun looks for our favorite hero! Alternate Universe and other out of continuity costumes THE ALL-NEW BATMAN: THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD 13 Rick Burchett provides art for this Steph special appearance, but he's tailored his clean lined, somewhat spiky personal style to the animation standards of the tie-in series. His Steph Robin is clearly drawn from the Robin look created by Damion Scott and Dave Ross in the War Games era Robin and Batgirl titles, complete with a blaze of blonde hair. His expressions are perfect, ranging from concerned Steph to overjoyed and relieved Steph to standard Steph stubborn fierceness. BATMAN, INCORPORATED SPECIAL 1 Cameron Stewart provides the art for this semi-AU appearance of Steph, and she looks a lot younger in face than she did in Pere Perez's lead-in issue in Steph's solo series. She's usually pretty determined and cheerful looking, which seems pretty solid Steph. The issue opens with Steph about to be hanged in her school uniform, white collard shirt and striped tie covered in Steph's case with a pink sweater vest, a puple pleated skirt, and black stockings (which Steph has opted not to use garters with). It then flashes to her arrival at the school, where she covers the uniform even more with a black three button blazer. Later, in the lockers, Steph is changing into her athletic uniform - drawstring shorts with dark pink trim and a matching dark pink polo style t-shirt with black collar and sleeve trim, and white sneakers. Stewart's Batgirl costume is pretty standard - purple ribbing, yellow waist puchest with snaps, yellow square containers on thigh belt, blades on gauntlets. Her expressions are spot-on, especially her smile as she thinks "I was trained by the actual most dangerous men and women in the world, and I didn't come here to learn...I came to teach." As she bursts through the window to save Batman, she has her eyes sensibly closed to protect her eyes and determined, if a bit large-lipped, expression. We then see Steph with a black sweater vest over the normal white shirt, tie, and skirt ensemble. BATGIRL: FUTURES END 1 Javier Garron provides a Batgirl Steph which is both a cheering throwback to her solo title, with some unique features. This future Steph has no cape (none of the Batgirls, or Bete Noir, do - must have been taking lessons from Edna Mode), which allows us to see the extra spine armoring that Bryan Q. Miller mentioned Babs gave Steph when she gave Steph the cowl. Steph's suit is more armored-looking, matching the darker world in the Future's End continuity, but her attitude is as cheerful and determined as ever, signalled by her cowl's tall and pointy ears, as compared to Cass and Tiffany's more subdued points. Instead of the solid strip of metallic compartments that characterized her solo costume, Garron draws individual buttoned/snapped pouches on her waist and thigh belts. Both thighs are belted, with the left one having a full ring of pouches, and the right just a few. The chest bat is purple, with obvious armor all over the body mimicing its angular lines. Her gloves, however, have loose wrists in purple, while the hands are black/dark grey. Steph carries her trademark staff, though a bit shortened, and even throws her gooperangs. CONVERGENCE: BATGIRL 1 AND 2 The promotional image provided we assume is by Rick Leonardi and Mark Pennington. It shows one close up panel of Steph's face in the cowl (nothing unusual), and one full-body shot of her, partially obscured by a gorilla. Steph's uniform looks more like a unitard than previous Batgirl outfits. It still has the purple side ribbing, but the pouches are really, really big and yellow. The cape is attached more at the shoulders than the neck, giving a sort of armored shoulder look. Steph's left leg is obscured, so we can't tell if she has a thigh belt. Batman Eternal Promotional Images Dustin Nguyen provided two promotional images for Steph's return in Batman Eternal. The first shows Steph mimicing her appearance in Batman #28, seated in a chair, but instead of being bound and fierce looking, she has her hands upraised in excitement for the welcoming waffles Cass has for her. Steph's in Nguyen's Li'l Gotham chibi style and watercolor effect, so her proportions are deliberately kidlike, but you can see his design for Steph's new Spoiler outfit - black with purple details and cloak. The clear Batgirl influence appears in Steph's side-ribbing, and the expression is pure hopeful, happy, surprised, excited Steph. A purple sash/belt across her chest and left thigh belt add to her purple mid-calf hard boots with clear gripping soles, showing that Steph is still practical and active in her costuming. Nguyen also provided a Steph cover-sized and styled illustration of Steph in full Spoiler gear. Instead of the stocking-cap with Spider-man eyes effect, the N52 Spoiler has a half mask covering the mouth and nose, but leaving the eyes and hair open. The purple hood covers the top and back of her head, but her blonde hair sticks out. Steph's gear in this image includes a three part staff, some kind of round grenades on her back belt, as well as her waist belt and left thigh belt, both in purple. The side ribbing continues down to mid-thigh on both sides, but is terminated by semi-boot like encirclings round her non-belted thigh. Her legs and torso have a semi-armored shiny look, bolstered by the purple gauntlets, hardshell boots, and ribbing on the ankle and knee bending surfaces. The boots also include an extra heel protection section, with a strap-like element over the top of the foot. Steph's cape is more like a cloak, in a clear nod to her hood and the history of her costume, with a sort of gathering around the neck instead of a clear buckle of attachment point. Her expression is determined and focused, but not overly angry or afraid - very solid Steph, especially given where she's going in Eternal. BATMAN 28 Steph's in the final panel, and drawn by Nguyen, inked by Derek Fridolfs. The details are a bit clearer in the inked comics style, so while the torso and legs are still shiny, it might be merely a stiffer, kevlar type fabric with sheen rather than hardshell armor pieces. The grippy boot soles are still clearly in evidence, and the sash is apparently more decorative, as no puches are visible. Her thigh and waist belt compartments are variously sealed - instead of solid compartments or traditional pouchest with snaps, they seem to be some kind of hybrid between the two. The mask and hood are off, but her cloak's gathering around her neck gives her the swathed, mysterious feel that a Spoiler should have. BATMAN ETERNAL 3 Jason Fabok provides the first chronological sighting of Steph, and as this is her origin story, she begins in civvies - a nice purple hoodie (with hood on), blue jeans (comfortable enough to climb shelves and run fast in) with a couple of chains on the right side, and black sneakers with laces. Fabok's Steph is cheerful, innocent, horrified, and desperate - but also determined. BATMAN ETERNAL 4 Nguyen picks up the on-the-run-in-her-purple-hoodie Steph, wearing pretty much the same outfit as Fabok provided. Steph is cautious but not as terrified as before, glancing over her shoulder with her face completely in shadow except her eye and nose, very reminiscent of her original Spoiler stocking cap mask. BATMAN ETERNAL 8 Gotham City Sirens artist Guillem March provides two pages of flashback Steph-in-hoodie-on-the-run, with the added detail that Steph's purple hoodie apparently has a drawstring. His Steph is pretty destitute, crying and being pushed around by a doomed phone-user. BATMAN ETERNAL 10 Riccardo Burchielli shows Steph as internet Spoiler, haunting the library day and night, this time wearing a purple blazer-style shirt, purple headband, and tan slacks. His Steph is a bit curvier, but wary and not too desperate, determined rather than terrified. BATMAN ETERNAL 11 Ian Bertram's almost Peter Sis-like art, full of hatches and enormous eyes, highlights library-haunting purple-shirt (not blazer or hoodie, just long sleeved, like a turtleneck) with normal teen proportions and attitudes (his "dad you suck" panels are perfect). He also provides flashbacks to tiny!Steph in PJs, which are, of course, two-piece purple pinstriped numbers with a stuffed piglet. BATMAN ETERNAL 13 Mikel Janin, as preview/promotional to his gig on the new Grayson title, provide a clean, bright, believable look for Steph in the library - she is again in a purple hoodie, this time a zippered, hood with strings, and a greenish shirt and blue jeans underneath. Her annoyed and cautious faces are solid and evocative, and her horrified face as she realizes her friend has been caught in a trap meant for her is hearbreaking. The last panels, with mascara (which she somehow has access to while sleeping in the library?) streaking her face and her fists clenched, show the clear determination that marks Steph throughout her entire career. BATMAN ETERNAL 20 Emanuel Simeoni bold outlines and gritty textured art provide a bold first appearance of Steph's costume - with hardshell armored finger gauntlets (capable of typing), purple cloak with a bit of shine, black armored body and facemask, purple side ribbing a bit hard to see, but there if you're looking for it, and three part staff and purse completing the costume. The expression is pretty solid, though there's an awful lot of black ringing her eyes, and, the hardshell armor look doesn't quite make sense if she made this costume herself. BATMAN ETERNAL 24 Jason Fabok, who drew Steph's first appearance in the series, provides her first cover in Spoiler gear - her torso armored in some kind of flexible but stiff and shiny fabric, but her legs and arms appearing to have a bit more hardshell look. The boots appear similar, with the strap-thing over the top of the foot, and the ribbing on the joints matches Nguyen's original design as well. The coloring and pouches are bit harder to match, however. Expression-wise, though, it's pure determined Steph. Andy Clarke provides interiors, jiggering back and forth between present day Steph in Spoiler garb, and flashback Steph on a bike with purple tank top and black and white striped pants. Kid!Steph is adorable, leaping before she looks, but maintaining a spirit of excitement. His present day Spoiler is more wearied by her dad's betrayals, Her costume is less lined and armor-y looking, instead having a stiff but flexible looking weave for the black, and the ribbing is a very nice contrast. Her expressions remain resigned but determined as she battles her dad. Proportion-wise, she's a believable athletic teen. Her expression as she finally makes her bike jump for her dad is a combination of determination and disappointment in her family, but her triumphant, if a bit sad smile, is beautiful when she takes off her mask. BATMAN ETERNAL 26 R. M. Guera's art is a bit awkward for faces, and blotchy blacks all over the place, which also marks their approach to Steph. However, it's nice to see solidly grippy boots, even if the armor-y look is back. The colors seem a bit bizzare - she's entirely purple, except for her mask, but she's definitely a teen, if a bit thinner than some of the earlier artists drew her. Her expressions are awkwardly blank, like many of the other characters's faces, and her chin's a bit longer than previously as well. We do see that her three part staff is kept on her left hip, above her thigh belt. BATMAN ETERNAL 27 Javier Garron, who also illustrated Future's End Steph for Gail Simone, tackles N52 Spoiler. His style is clean and edging towards cute and bright, His Steph skulks in an alley as she waits for Batman and an assassin on her trail. Her mask seems a bit more like simple fabric, though Simeonie's art was clearly a harder shell, and #24 clearly indicated it contained a filter mask and had more rigid contours, while Garron's mask shows clear lines of fabric stretching over the nose instead of a molded line along the face. However, her coloring is back to a solid purple trim on black base, instead of the all purple look, and seems again more stiff-fabric-y, instead of armor-y. She mirrors Simeoni's final page pose with her exit, but Garron doesn't swirl the details around her for effect this time, adn maintains a fairly plausible proportions for her. His expressions, just as in Batgirl: Future's End, are suitably determined.